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Philosophy

Most people like to live in a safe space of their own design. They don’t want to do anything that will test their abilities, confront ideologies that challenge their worldview, nor will they do anything that others might see as odd or socially unacceptable.

When I was 16 and taking a gap year because I was sick of the banality of academia, and nowhere near ready mentally to take on a degree course, I took whatever job I could find.

That job was driving forklifts, lugging bags of concrete and cutting timber to size for builders. Everyone at my work hated their job. It was a place that “dreams go to die”, as I was advised by a colleague when I first started working there. I was apparently making a huge mistake.

No man is an island. It’s a commonly accepted truth that we all need human interaction in order to be fulfilled, but I have a confession. I avoid social occasions where I can.

I’m not an agoraphobic hermit, and I do enjoy spending time with my partner, wider family and a few close friends. You could say that I am more of a peninsula than an island, but I have never understood how people enjoy work Christmas functions or weddings.

You have the calm, serenity of Gautama Buddha, who would meditate peacefully under a waterfall in the knowledge that all things are one. With Donald Trump, you have a bombastic, egotistical, billionaire turned politician who is rioted against when he is elected president.

But their qualities aren’t mutually exclusive. That’s right – in this post, I am going to explain why you should enjoy the best of both mindsets.

It was a crisp autumn morning and I was walking to my client’s building up in the nicer end of the city to begin my first day of the job that I had studied to do for the previous three years.

I had done some menial labour for the last few months with the company that employed me, but a talent void was created within the company when one of the client technicians resigned, and I got pulled into that void.

I have seen the articles and Facebook posts lamenting the past twelve months as a year best forgotten and the collective sighs of relief from the majority have been almost palpable, although of course this is a subjective perspective.